In it, there were several playoff games, with two of them being dramatic to the near end. Some of the teams bounced back from their loses in the previous games.
Of course, there were as always excellent individual playoff performance that marked the day. Who ranks on top? Without any further ado, here's the list.
8. Darren Collison
Darren's production pushed Indiana over the top. He made the difference in positive sense of the word for his team, as he outscored his opponent late, distributed the rock and his shooting touch served him quite well too.
Collison scored 19 points, dished out six assists, grabbed two rebounds, recorded three steals, committed a turnover, shot 9-10 from the field, 1-1 from deep in 24 minutes.
That's truly a terrific performance when the minutes are taken in consideration among the stats too.
7. Arron Afflalo
Arron, who wasn't a factor in the previous games of the series, finally had a breakthrough performance. He found his shooting rhythm, made his shots and was active in all the other aspects of the court.
Afflalo scored 19 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out an assist, recorded three steals, committed one turnover, shot 8-19 from the field, 1-5 from beyond the arc, 2-3 from the free throw line in 35 minutes of action.
His aggressiveness gave him positive results, which is why he had his most impressive performance. Even the statistics back than up.
6. Danny Granger
Danny was aggressive on the court, found ways to pour in ton of points despite inefficient shooting and was excellent from an all-around point. He led his team to a huge win and to the second round of the post season.
The stats say that he had a terrific performance. Granger scored 25 points, grabbed four boards, dished out three assists, committed two turnovers, shot 8-20 from the field, 4-9 from three point land and 5-5 from the stripe in 43 minutes of action.
He didn't hide his emotions for going through and his first big playoff success in his young NBA career.
5. Luol Deng
Luol was playing like a real All-Star, a form he couldn't consistently play to this post season. He was scoring quite well, came up big and did his usual defensive excellence.
Deng scored 24 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out an assist, recorded two steals, blocked two shots, committed two turnovers, shot 10-19 from the field, 4-5 from beyond the arc in 43 minutes of action on the court.
This has statistically been his most impressive performance and he definitely deserves the nod.
4. Jameer Nelson
Jameer had a career night, where he played amazingly and came up huge. He found his stroke on his jumper, was distributing the ball well and had a nice all-around performance as well.
Nelson scored 27 points, dished out five dimes, pulled down four rebounds, recorded two steals, committed no turnovers, shot 11-21 from the field, 5-8 from beyond the arc in 39 minutes of action on the court.
However, his team mates didn't follow him here, as they failed to do the same. Although he was playing like few did in the playoffs, playing alone doesn't get the job done.
3. Al Horford
Al definitely proved to be the positive difference maker for his Hawks. He established himself as a presence on both sides of the paint with his terrific plays.
Horford scored 19 points, pulled down 11 rebounds, added three steals, rejected three shots, dished out three dimes, committed four turnovers, shot 8-15 from the field, 3-4 from the charity in 41 minutes of action out there.
His excellent play has been what Atlanta has been lacking in the playoffs and this game is classic case in point.
2. Javale McGee
Javale's presence in the paint on both sides of the court made the difference for Denver. He finished on high efficiency inside, controlled the glass and led his team in the fourth with numerous nice plays.
McGee scored 21 points, pulled down 14 rebounds, blocked two shots, dished out an assist, didn't commit a turnover, shot 9-12 from the field, 3-6 from the charity in 33 minutes.
The stats say that he had a terrific performance, but it's the impact he made throughout the entire game is the main reason why the Nuggets came up with a big victory.
1. Kobe Bryant
Bryant was excellent throughout the entire game, but turned the heat on in the fourth period. He connected on some crazy attempts, as he found his touch.
Kobe scored playoff high 43 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out five dimes, recorded two steals, lost three balls, shot 14-32 from the field, 5-11 from the arc and 10-11 from the free throw line in 43 minutes of action.
Although the Lakers lost on a missed jumper by him, he still has to be applauded for the effort he gave.
Darko Mihajlovski is a columnist at FootBasket. He also contributes to Hoops-Nation. You can read more about him at our Staff page.
